DVD REVIEWS OF NEW RELEASES.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

'Capote' brings famed literary figure to life

When he first started interviewing Truman Capote in the late '60s, biographer Gerald Clarke says he didn't realize that the larger-than-life writer was beginning his long downfall."'In Cold Blood' just wrecked his life forever. It was his greatest success and his greatest failure, in a way," says Clarke in a documentary that's among the extras on the DVD of "Capote."

The film chronicles the time Capote wrote his nonfiction masterpiece, "In Cold Blood," which told the story of the 1959 murder of a Kansas family of four and the subsequent apprehension and execution of the killers a half-dozen years later. Capote (played brilliantly by Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman) was the toast of New York at the time, with his novella "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and articles in the New Yorker. A Southerner and a gay man who didn't hide his sexuality, it seemed unlikely that the writer would get on with the solid citizens of the Midwest. But he did, and that was part of his genius.

Bennett Miller's film, from an intelligent script by Dan Futterman, examines how the writer's consuming passion to complete his work one that skirted ethical questions took a heavy toll. Capote admitted that had the killers, Perry Smith and Richard "Dick" Hickock, not been given the death penalty, "In Cold Blood" might never have been published because he wouldn't have had the ending he needed. But, at the same time, he had grown to see the pair particularly Smith, who he saw as having an unhappy childhood similar to his own with compassion. Still, he declined to help in their appeals, despite his assurances to the pair that he would. It was that conflict that tore at him.

Acting as sort of a conscience and grounding was his childhood friend, Nell Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), who was brought along on his trip to Kansas to be his "research assistant." Lee was writing a novel of her own at the time, "To Kill a Mockingbird." When her book becomes a success, the film shows Capote becoming even more desperate. Keener's performance as Capote's second banana is wonderfully subtle. It is through her that the audience sees the human and despairing side of Capote.

Many of us remember the writer on the talk-show circuit in the '70s up until his death in 1984 at the age of 59. Capote was almost a comic figure, forgetting his literary talents. As the film notes correctly, he never completed another book in his lifetime.

"Answered Prayers," which was published as an "unfinished novel" after his death, had the line, "More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered prayers." It may be a more sophisticated way of saying, "Be careful what you wish for." "In Cold Blood," as Capote's editor prophesied, changed the way people write, but he may have opened a Pandora's box.

With its long, still shots that create a sense of uneasiness, "Capote" keeps the camera steadily on the growing darkness that's at the heart of the story. That makes it unsettling, but very powerful.

"Capote" (Columbia; $28.95)

The writing life, warts and all

The title of Noah Baumbach's uneasy film "The Squid and the Whale" refers to an exhibit at the Natural History Museum in New York City of the two sea giants locked in a death struggle. Baumbach, the son of novelist Jonathan Baumbach and film critic Georgia Brown, apparently based the film on some of his own childhood.

Set in the mid '80s, "The Squid and the Whale" focuses on Bernard and Joan Berkman (Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney) and their two children, the teenage Walt (Jesse Eisenberg), and the younger Frank (Owen Kline). Bernard, a writer whose career is on the wane, makes his living as a college professor. Joan is about to publish her first novel and has had a series of affairs.

To those of us who have been around the literary community, they are sadly familiar. Bernard tries to exude an appearance of intelligence and control but is insecure and feeling emasculated by his wife's success. He's good at dispensing fatherly opinions, which Walt parrots without questioning or putting in the work, but doesn't know how to take a stand. Joan waffles between moments of motherhood and her own desires, both carnal and artistic. Neither has much of a clue about how their discontent, arrogance and divorce affects their children.

Walt meets a girl, but the play-the-field advice from his father and his mother's sexual confession prove toxic. Awhile after the two split up and the children are shuttling between the houses, Bernard and Joan are called to school because of some unsavory behavior of Frank. When the pair leave, the school official mentions how much she was touched by Joan's recent story in the New Yorker. The irony is not simply that Frank's been eclipsed but that Joan was able to invest emotion and insight into her story and not in her children.

"Paradise Now," a best foreign lanaguge film Oscar nominee, drew some protests over what was perceived as the glorification of terrorists. The film tells the story of Said (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman), childhood friends, who belong to a terrorist cell planning a suicide mission in the next two days.

I'd argue that the film glorifies nothing. They are men who are products of the tragedy of the Mideast. That they are shown to be human doesn't make their intended act less horrific or less mad that they see a suicide mission as an option.

"Derailed" was perhaps not the best title for this thriller starring Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen. Owen plays Charles, a midlevel advertising exec with a beautiful wife (Melissa George) and daughter. One day on the commuter train to Chicago, he meets an attractive financial officer, Lucinda (Aniston). After some preliminary flirting over a couple of days, the pair find themselves in a less-than-classy hotel to finalize things. But before too many sparks fly, a hood named Phillipe (Vincent Cassel) violently breaks up the party. He harasses Charles, demanding money while threatening to harm Lucinda or his wife. Logic is derailed early in the film, though you'll probably see where it's going. Only Owen, a stylish actor, gives the film some presence.

"The Squid and the Whale" (Columbia; $26.96)

"Paradise Now" (Warner; $27.98)

"Derailed" (Unrated) (Miramax; $29.95)

`Busby Berkeley Collection,' `Billy Wilder DVD Collection' and others

Old Hollywood is on parade with some special DVD editions.

"The Busby Berkeley Collection" has five titles from the choreographer-turned-director who put movement and dancing feet back in the movies after the talkies first made things stagnant with his 1933 "42nd Street." Also on the bill are "Footlight Parade," "Gold Diggers of 1933," "Dapmes" and "Gold Diggers of 1935." Berkeley's career was never as high in the '40s as it was in the '30s, but his name became synonymous with razzle-dazzle, as these enjoyable films attest.

Billy Wilder's great prison-camp film, "Stalag 17," is also out on special edition, either separately or as part of "The Billy Wilder DVD Collection," which includes "Sunset Boulevard" and "Sabrina." The latter film is charming with Audrey Hepburn, how could it not be? the other two are sublime.

And a few years after Gloria Swanson was waiting for Cecil B. DeMille and her close-up in "Sunset Boulevard," the acclaimed producer/director was making the biblical spectacle "The Ten Commandments," with Charlton Heston as Moses, Yul Brenner as Rameses and a host of other Hollywood stars in sandals. The 50th anniversary collection includes DeMille's original 1923 silent version with hand-tinted footage of the parting of the Red Sea sequence, plus commentary and a documentary on the making of the film.

"The Busby Berkeley Collection" (Warner; $59.98 and $19.97 each)

"The Billy Wilder DVD Collection" (Paramount; $34.99)

"Stalag 17 Special Collector's Edition" (Paramount; $19.99)

"The Ten Commandments - 50th Anniversary Collection" (Paramount; $24.98)

"Huff" and other TV releases

The first season of "Huff," Showtime's excellent series about a shrink played by Hank Azaria, is out. Ric Burns' 1991 documentary "Coney Island" is a fascinating look at what was, a century ago, America's favorite amusement park. His new documentary, "Eugene O'Neill," which will air on PBS on March 27, is also available.

Other TV-related discs are listed below.

"Huff: The Complete First Season" (Columbia; $39.99)

"American Experience - Coney Island" (PBS/Paramount; $19.99)

"American Experience - Eugene O'Neill: A Documentary Film" (PBS/Paramount; $24.99)

"American Experience - The Way West: How the West Was Lost & Won, 1845-1893" (PBS/Paramount; $34.99)

"American Masters: Willa Cather - The Road Is All" (PBS/Paramount; $24.99)

"South Park - The Complete Seventh Season" (Paramount; $44.99)

"Bewitched - The Complete Third Season" (Columbia; $34.95)

"Gidget - The Complete Series" (Columbia; $39.95)

"Roseanne Season 3" (Anchor Bay; $39.98)

"Over There - Season 1" (Fox, $39.98)

"Tales From the Crypt - The Complete Third Season" (Warner; $39.98)

"21 Jump Street Season 5" (Anchor Bay; $34.98)

"White Shadow: Season 2" (Fox; $39.98)

Rob Lowman, [phone]

[e-mail]

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN in ``CAPOTE''

(2) LAURA LINNEY in ``THE SQUID AND THE WHALE''

(3) HANK AZARIA in ``HUFF''

(4) WILLIAM HOLDEN in ``STALAG 17''